A lot of thought, effort and dedication goes in to the making of a textbook. While most of the publishers / authors follow a common format, some turn out to be unconventional and unique. What can make a textbook more appealing and interesting to students? Here are some aspects / qualities a good textbook should have:-
- Design & Appearance: The look of a textbook is what attracts any student. Textbooks with a striking bookplate can help instill pride in its owner.
When exams get over, many students neglect textbooks. This mistake creates a gap between the previous year's learning and the beginning of the next year and students struggle to catch up with learning pace again.
Always make it a point to revise the learnt materials to strengthen and reinforce what you have learnt earlier and to face challenges of the upcoming year.
- Quality: The paper quality of the cover and the pages should be good. The covers must be rugged, long-lasting and laminated. Textbooks should have good quality pages and the content should be easy on the eyes.
- Binding: Textbooks must have permanent binding that makes them easy to open. Good quality binding also ensures that the books lasts for a long period of time. Loosely bound textbooks will discourage the students from studying them.
- Contents of the Book: It is content that rules. Many scholars are involved in writing textbooks but most of their writing is not suitable to the younger minds. A good textbook should be informative, encouraging and educative. The technical expertise of scholars and subject experts will always be needed.
- Extra Features: Footnotes in a book are life butterflies in our reading-garden. They should also have indexes. These little additions will make a book complete.